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This is a good use of dramatic irony because it tells the reader something Oedipus doesn’t know yet in during the play.
There seems to be a distinct paradoxical theme that exists in this play, Fate vs. Free Will.
Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. His downfall is the result of incidents beyond his control, and is rather the result of fate. In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. His characteristic flaws of pride and arrogance don't so much contribute to his downfall, but play more the role of hastening it.
Plot
The peripertia of the play is the Messenger's reversal of intention; in seeking to help Oedipus by telling him that Polybus and Merope were not his real parents, he instead creates the opposite effect, providing the crucial piece of information that will reveal that Oedipus has indeed killed his father and married his mother. This is directly connected to the anagnorisis, for the Messenger and Herdsman piece together the whole story of Oedipus, enabling him to “recognize” his true identity, to gain the essential knowledge he has lacked. The play offers a perfect illustration of the nature of the hamartia as “mistake” or error rather than flaw. Oedipus directly causes his own downfall not because he is evil, or proud, or weak, but simply because he does not know who he …show more content…
During Marlowe and Shakespeare's time, a chorus was frequently used in a play to act as narrator and interpreter. They explain that Faustus was born into a middle-class family in Rhodes, Germany and later traveled to Wittenberg for higher studies. He became renowned as a brilliant scholar and immersed himself in studying necromancy, the conjuration of the living dead. The chorus alludes to the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, comparing Faustus to the self-conceited Icarus who broke all boundaries only to meet with his demise. Thus, the chorus foreshadows Faustus's eventual hellish
There seems to be a distinct paradoxical theme that exists in this play, Fate vs. Free Will.
Oedipus is seen as a tragic hero in the play, a principal character, in a position of social importance being the King of Thebes. His downfall is the result of incidents beyond his control, and is rather the result of fate. In Oedipus Rex, it is not so much a hamartia that leads to his downfall, but more the role played by fate and destiny. His characteristic flaws of pride and arrogance don't so much contribute to his downfall, but play more the role of hastening it.
Plot
The peripertia of the play is the Messenger's reversal of intention; in seeking to help Oedipus by telling him that Polybus and Merope were not his real parents, he instead creates the opposite effect, providing the crucial piece of information that will reveal that Oedipus has indeed killed his father and married his mother. This is directly connected to the anagnorisis, for the Messenger and Herdsman piece together the whole story of Oedipus, enabling him to “recognize” his true identity, to gain the essential knowledge he has lacked. The play offers a perfect illustration of the nature of the hamartia as “mistake” or error rather than flaw. Oedipus directly causes his own downfall not because he is evil, or proud, or weak, but simply because he does not know who he …show more content…
During Marlowe and Shakespeare's time, a chorus was frequently used in a play to act as narrator and interpreter. They explain that Faustus was born into a middle-class family in Rhodes, Germany and later traveled to Wittenberg for higher studies. He became renowned as a brilliant scholar and immersed himself in studying necromancy, the conjuration of the living dead. The chorus alludes to the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, comparing Faustus to the self-conceited Icarus who broke all boundaries only to meet with his demise. Thus, the chorus foreshadows Faustus's eventual hellish